Houston Mayor Urges Residents to Stay Home in Severe Flooding

iStock/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) -- Torrential rain is tearing through the Houston, Texas, area, with nearly nine inches of rain falling Monday morning. Monday is the wettest April 18 ever recorded in the city's history, breaking the 1976 record of 8.16 inches.

The airport recorded 8.85 inches of rain between midnight and 5 a.m. Monday.

Severe flooding has trapped drivers on roadways and residents inside their homes. A flash flood warning was issued this morning for north and northwest Harris County.

No fatalities have been reported, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Monday morning, and he urged residents to stay home.

"Do not try to drive through this water. Please stay at home," Turner said. "Even if you're home -- you feel it will be flooded -- you're not going to help yourself by leaving your house and trying to go some place else."

The severe flooding can be blamed on an overflow from local creeks and bayous, according to the Harris County Emergency Management office.

There were at least 74 high water rescues this morning in Harris County, a county spokesperson told ABC News, adding that the numbers were expected to rise.

The mayor said there was one upside to the torrential rain: it struck overnight and early Monday morning -- when most people are not at work and children are not in school.

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